New Delhi: Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it has acquired India leg of Gulf Bridge International submarine cable which will boost its data carrying capacity.

“Under the agreement, Airtel will acquire the ownership of the India leg of GBI’s India-Middle East-Europe submarine cable. Airtel will also pick up a significant capacity on Middle East-Europe leg of GBI’s cable system," Airtel said in a statement.

Submarine cables are considered backbone of internet. Airtel and GBI have also agreed to formulate joint “go to market" strategies and leverage the footprint of their respective global networks to serve global customers.

“With this, we are adding a large capacity to meet the growing data, content demand in markets like India as well as serve the connectivity needs of global carriers and enterprise customers. This will also complement Airtel’s existing global network spanning 250,000 Rkms with presence in 50 countries and contribute to our vision of serving customers with a future ready network," Ajay Chitkara, director and CEO for Global Voice and Data Business, Bharti Airtel said.

With this new investment Airtel now has large capacities—owned and leased — on multiple international submarine cable systems and offers the multiple number of connectivity routes between India and Europe.

GBI’s cable asset comes in addition to Airtel’s existing global network — IMEWE, EIG, SMW4 and MENA submarine cables. GBI is a multilayer terrestrial and subsea cable meshed network bridges the east to the west through the Middle East.

“We are committed to build a sustainable network in partnership with global leaders, with an ultimate goal to offer the best user experience to our partners and end-users. In line with this objective, today, we are excited to onboard Airtel and together deliver greater value to customers," Abdulla Al Rwaili, executive vice chairman and managing director, GBI said.